Edmond Naman, a Circuit Judge at Mobile County Juvenile Court, looks over paper work in his court room on Dec. 11, 2013.(Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

MOBILE, Alabama-- A project spearheaded by Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl is aiming to integrate religion and rehabilitation for juvenile offenders.

Carl recently attended a prayer breakfast in Washington, DC where political leaders met to join in prayer.

On Saturday, Carl brought the message home to 90 people from the community who met with local officials including Rep. Bradley Byrne, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, police chief Jim Barber and Juvenile Judge Edmond Naman among others.

"We hope to put an army of people
together through the faith based community to assist Juvenile Court Judge
Edmond Naman in providing resources to these children and their families," Carl
said. "We're getting a community working for itself."

Christians, Muslims, Unitarians and Buddhist
religious leaders were represented among the attendees, with all faiths invited to the meeting.

An advisory meeting will help sharpen the plan for faith-based options for offenders and to organize options. Training and delivery of those options to the juvenile court system will come under the leadership and guidance of Judge Naman.

"It's
a community coming together and making a plan to mentor our youth," Carl
said. Carl added that he had been planning the initiative for 16 months and is excited to see the idea take a foothold in the community.

Naman urged the community to
make a commitment to getting involved with juvenile offenders in an effort to turn their lives around. "Juvenile offenders can be turned around by
interested adults who provide them direction and hope for their future," said Naman.